What to Know
- Yaser Said is accused of murdering his two teenage daughters, Sarah and Amina Said, in 2008. His capital murder trial is forthcoming.
- Said was arrested in Justin in August 2020 after 12 years on the run.
- His son Islam and brother Yassein were found guilty of harboring him and conspiracy and are spending 10 years and 12 years behind bars, respectively.
The brother of capital murder suspect Yaser Said was sentenced to 12 years in federal prison for helping the "10 Most Wanted" suspect, accused of murdering his two teenage daughters in a 2008 shooting, evade capture for 12 years.
Yassein Said, Yaser's 59-year-old brother, was found guilty in February by a federal jury in Fort Worth of conspiracy to conceal a person from arrest, concealing a person from arrest and conspiracy to obstruct an official proceeding.
He was sentenced Friday by U.S. District Judge Reed O'Connor, the Acting U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of Texas, Prerak Shah, announced in a press release.
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Yaser Said
O'Connor went above sentencing guidelines in a process called "variance."
"The guidelines also do not adequately take into account the extravagant lengths that defendant and his co-defendant, and perhaps others, went to harbor and conceal Yaser Said," O'Connor wrote in a court filing.
The son of Yaser, Islam Said, pled guilty to the same charges and was sentenced to 10 years in federal prison.
According to law enforcement, Said shot the girls to death inside his taxicab and abandoned their bodies inside the vehicle. He was captured by the FBI's Violent Crimes Task Force in August 2020, and is currently in state custody.
According to evidence presented at the trial, both Yassein and Islam helped shelter Yaser from arrest inside an apartment in Bedford where a maintenance worker spotted Yaser on Aug. 14, 2017.
In documents unsealed by the Department of Justice, FBI agents began 24-hour surveillance on a home in Justin in August 2020 that was recently purchased in the name of Dalal Said, Yassein's daughter.
Agents watching the home said they saw Yassein and Islam allegedly drive up to the home, deliver what appeared to be groceries inside and leave with bags of garbage on Aug. 25, 2020.
The next day, agents executed a search warrant at the home in Justin. Inside they found Yaser Said and took him into custody without incident.
Yassein and Islam were both arrested in Euless the same day.
Yaser Said
"Yassein Said prioritized the comfort of his brother, an alleged murderer, over justice for his nieces, two innocent teenagers on the brink of adulthood," Shah said in a press release. "No sentence can bring Sarah and Amina back, but we are hopeful that seeing justice served brings a measure of comfort to those who loved these two young souls."
The Federal Bureau of Investigation's Dallas Field Division and the Irving Police Department conducted the investigation with the assistance of U.S. Customs & Border Patrol, the Dallas Police Department, the Garland Police department, the Grand Prairie Police Department and the Texas Department of Public Safety.
Editor's note: This article has been updated to reflect that Yaser Said was arrested in Justin in 2020.
